Human organ transplantation ­- including hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys and
others ­- represents one of the more significant medical advances of the past half
century. By replacing a diseased or failing organ, physicians can substantially restore
a patientıs health and prolong his life considerably.

For at least the past three decades, however, there has been a severe and growing
shortage of human organs donated for transplantation purposes. That shortage, in
turn, has prevented this medical technology from realizing its full potential,
resulting in the unnecessary deaths of several thousand people each year. These
deaths could be avoided if more organs could be obtained from the cadavers of
recently decreased individuals.

Importantly, the organ shortage is not due to an inadequate number of potential
organ suppliers. At present, a sufficient number of deaths occur each year under
circumstances that would allow cadaveric organ donation to completely resolve the
shortage situation. The underlying cause of the shortage, then, is not an inadequate
potential supply but, rather, an inadequate collection rate. We currently utilize less
than 30 percent of the potential number of cadaveric organs that could be
transplanted.

This failure to procure more organs is directly attributable to an ill-conceived
public policy which was codified in the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act,
sponsored by then-Sen. Al Gore. Specifically, that act makes it a felony to buy or sell
human organs (even cadaveric organs) for purposes of transplantation. In economic
terms, this legislation sets the legal price of organs at zero. And few, if any, products
on earth would not exhibit a shortage at a zero price.

The ultimate cause of the organ shortage, then, is a price that is fixed by
government mandate below its market-clearing level. Given that cause, the obvious
solution is to allow organ prices to rise by legalizing cadaveric organ markets (both
purchases and sales). Higher prices will, as they do in all markets, call forth an
increased number of organs and, thereby, save thousands of lives each year. In
addition, organ suppliers -- the families of the deceased organ donors -- will receive
compensation for providing the principal input required for a transplant operation -
- the organ that is to be transplanted. Organ suppliers will, for the first time, be
treated equally with all other transplant input suppliers -- hospitals, physicians,
nurses, etc.

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(Barnett is an associate profess of economics and director of the Auburn
Policy Research Center at Auburn University; Kaserman is the Torchmark Professor
of Economics at AU)